The second round of the Calder Cup in the AHL is completed. Here are the first round results. Now I will look at the second round.

Providence Bruins defeat Worchester Sharks 4 games to 2 Providence is the Boston Bruins farm club and Worchester is the San Jose Sharks affiliate. The Sharks were a tough opponent. They took a 1-0 and 2-.1 lead. In the end they couldn’t hold off Providence. Providence was pushed by offensive performances by Martin St Pierre (who is 2nd in playoff scoring), Brad Marchand and Vladimir Sobotka. Tuukka Rask offered good goaltending. He has a .943 saves percentage and a 1.72 GAA. In Worchester, Riley Armstrong and Dan DaSilva led the offence, with Patrick Traverse providing strong defence. Thomas Greiss was their goaltender.

Hershey Bears defeat Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 4 games to 3 This was a hard fought series with Hershey (Washington Capitals affiliate) surviving against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (Pittsburgh Penguins affiliate). It happened as their NHL parents also fought through a seven game series with the opposite team winning. The Hershey offence was provided by Alexandre Giroux, Chris Bourque and Keith Aucoin. Michel Neuvirth provided solid goaltending. Jeff Taffe and Nick Johnson led the offence in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. They were hurt when defensive star Alex Goligoski was called up during the series due to injuries to the NHL Penguins. That may have been a main reason for their losing the series. Adam Berkhoel was the more successful starting goalie for W-B/S but he shared duties with John Curry.

Manitoba Moose defeat Grand Rapids Griffins in 4 straight. Manitoba is the Vancouver Canucks affiliate and Grand Rapids is that of the Detroit Red Wings. Manitoba dominated this series. They were led offensively by Jason Krog and Mark Cullen. Cory Schneider provided top goaltending for the Moose. The Grand Rapids offence was led by Ville Leino and Darren Haydar. Jimmy Howard was the Grand Rapids goalie.

Houston Aeros defeat Milwaukee Admirals 4 games to 3 Houston is the Minnesota Wild affiliate and Milwaukee is that of the Nashville Predators. This was a tough back and forth series Houston was led offensively by playoff top scorer Corey Locke and Krys Kolanos. Maxim Noreau led the defence. Anton Khudobin was the Houston goalie. Milwaukee was led by Mike Santorelli and Patric Hornqvist, with Cody Franson playing very well on defence. Drew MacIntyre played very well in goal.

In the semi-finals, Providence will meet Hershey and Manitoba will meet Houston.